Serious Vinland
Scholars may recall that perhaps, historically, New England has always been the
favored locale of Vinland. Many are not aware that
when the earliest colonists entered the Massachusetts/Rhode Island area after
1620 they recorded mysterious artifacts which seemed to result from even
earlier arrivals and that a common belief that perhaps these were the Viking
explorers led by Leif Eiricksson. In the early
1830’s, several New England historians attempted to resolve this puzzle and
sought out scholars in Scandinavia who might research this issue in Viking
literature. They found a Danish scholar, Charles – or Carl –
Christian Rafn, who undertook the study and
eventually published his "AntiquitatesAmericanae",
now rare but references frequently encountered. So far as I
know, Mr. (Dr.?) Rafn never visited New England but worked from both the
original Sagas then stored in Copenhagen,
co-relating research of
American historians who were aware of both the legends of Vinland and the mysterious
artifacts extant. It was a major collaborative effort for its day and its
result an elegant and influential scholarly endeavor. It was re-published in
Germany with
commentary by Otto Zeller in 1963.

This page will identify
eight artifacts that "AntiquitatesAmericanae"
had listed (the American historians had contributed) and others that had been
overlooked and those discovered since 1837. I will identify the artifact and
comment on it. All, however, must be understood to have no scientific
provenance because they were not discovered under controlled conditions –
they were discovered by accident. This lack of provenance does not mean they
must be forgeries or are of no interest, it simply means that they are not
"proven" to scientific standards. I make no claim over and above my
commentary that all must be valid and simply display the result.

“Tack”
each one as you investigate and at end zoom out and observe the pattern of
occurrences. The resultant pattern is easily as indicative as validity of any particular one.

Listed are not only the
material artifacts, but also what I call as "iconographic",
that is, viewing a strong relationship of descriptions from either direct
reference from the Sagas (icon) to a comparable geographic factor or locale.

In
attempting to clarify the discussions on this page “iconographic”,
means something of the same order as “artifact” but not man-made:
something resulting from natural processes; something representative of the
object itself. Modern usage infers “—graphic” as being a visual clue,
but some dictionaries state a preference towards verbal or written words.

As an
artifact is something made by man, an iconographic
is something from a process that results in a
description as: we note a relatively fair description of an island Straumney
in the Vinland Sagas. A descriptiondrawn
from a reliable source is less tangible than an object, yet it is very nearly as valid in reasoned
intercourse. As an artifact tells us of the presence of man, a description
tells us of a particular fixation even as it does not tell us the whole story.
We might think of this as a “literary factor” and this, then, can develop
into other concepts as in medicine, genetics, geography and other disciplines.
A “literary artifact” would be the description of the island Straumney
within the Vinland Sagas, not the island itself.
Thus, we have as an icon the
description of an island and we might accept that there was such an island but
do not yet know which island it had been. We can match the description
– the graphic - to some island
that seems to coincide but yet not proven, so more work needs to be done by
the detective of history. We have complications which differ from algebraic
equations, in which two factors are accepted as true to define an unknown
third. With us the only definite factor might be the description, and that mostly by agreement and debate. In
various talks that I have given I refer to this process as “boot-strapping”
where investigation, exploration, and experimentation become crucial.

In
the previous page on Landfalls of Vinland, both
C.C. Rafn and myself
identify Straumney as Marthas
Vineyard and it should be borne in mind that there are two concepts here: the
description of the island; and my opinion as to where the island is. I believe
myself, and may be, correct - but the subject is still open for discussion and
comparisons.

Indeed, the discovery that my readings had coincided with the meticulous
research of that industrious and knowledgeable Dane, gave me that impetuous to
continue what at that time had been simply a pleasurable avocation.

A
list of symptoms in medicine might be a “medicaliconographic” as it tells of a
disease or condition that might be named or yet unknown and simply informs us
of circumstantial evidence for further investigation, exactly as an artifact is a key to
further investigation.

A
description of a place or geographic entity, written or oral (but not a map) I
aver is a “geographiciconographic” of a particular place, but not the place itself and
we still must debate its location and validity.

A
genetic trait is an iconographic as
it describes a condition and yet deserves further investigation. It happens,
however, that genetic iconographics
might be the most definitive of all scientific statements because of great
advances in DNA analysis over the past few decades. In fact, genetics has the
ability to be more decisive in the history of mankind than artifacts because
the study of genetics has advanced to yield mathematical certainties, whereas
artifacts and other iconographics
might always be open to question to some degree until scholars agree on a
result. I consider myself most fortunate in discovery of published papers on
RI1000( number 30, below), whose exhumations convey genetic information – iconographics- for proof of the discovery of Leif Erickson’s Vinland.

If
there is a better word for my intent, I would appreciate hearing of it.

======+++======

Follow
the directions to Google Earth® as shown on
"Landfalls of Vinland" use ruler liberally and zoom in and out for perspective.
"Tack" all as you find them as their placements and relationships
are as insightful as their existence. An overview at the end of the
exercise will yield great insights pertaining to Vinland

////////
\\\\\\\\

Rafn
#1, Dighton Rock, MA, [artifact] Nautical
access through Narragansett Bay. Photo taken 1830 and
some scholars theorize that some of the chalked in markings are Norse runes.
At this date the artifact had been known and recorded some160 years.

[
41 48'46.09"N, 71 06'37.46"W ]. The
most famous, researched and preserved of the runestones
of Southern New England. Moved a short distance from
"in situ" and a museum constructed
around it. May be visited and observed. It is pretty well eroded, has
been recorded since very earliest colonial days. Portions of it seem to have
been carved by steel or iron tools. Claims are made for it (displayed in the
museum) as both ancient Viking or 15th
century Portuguese as well as Indian and others. It might add to significance
that within this area was the home village of famed Massasoit,
Indian Wampanoag Chieftain who had welcomed the Plymouth colonists in 1620. It is
at the head of navigation of Taunton River for ships of deep draft. A note of
interest is that rain/river water flowing past tidal location of the museum
actually has at its source rather distant Plymouth, on Massachusetts Bay,
perhaps only two miles from Plymouth Rock.

======+++======

Rafn
#2, NoMansLandRunestone

[
41 14'59.50"N, 70 48'46.96"W ].
Artifact lost and recovered several times. Rafn
seemed uncertain as he placed it at [ 41 14'54.79N,
70 58'31.00W ] way out at sea, but later rediscovered
and presently in long, slow process of recovery. This endeavor is on hold
because of bureaucratic processes of US Army Corp of Engineers, who have
oversight of navigable waters. It is now at tidewater but scholars have
claimed that in the past it was located upon the plain above the beach and
about 50 yards inland. Years after the original workmen left it the land below
it eroded away, dropping both it and the larger stone upon which it had rested
to the beach. The beach, in turn has subsided to where the stone now exists.
It has been at that spot since hewing but the land has retreated from it. This
is nature's way of demonstrating the old trick of yanking a tablecloth away
while leaving the plate and silverware in place.

The eroded lower line
seems to have been positioned where it was periodically covered with snow,
water or ice during a time it was at earth level even near or beneath packed
earth. Carved with steel or iron tools. (Indian petroglyphs
before 1492 were created with hard stone and lack the clear definition that
iron tools yield.) Most significant factors in favor of these carvings
validity are, first: the stone’s placement which makes no sense whatsoever
for a land marker - it is adjacent to, and faces the sea. It is now on the
most extreme seaward edge of the territory and is seldom or never visited. The
argument for this is apparent in the barrenness of the island, its geographic
placement near the waterside. The island has never been populated but has been
farmed with small sheep herds. However, from a seaman’s perspective,
especially one exploring or marking a discovery, the placement is ideal. As
can be seen in the landfalls page, this island had been seen, probably from
close aboard( near at hand), by Leif Erickson in
his passage West towards his initial island landing. The island lies at a
place passed closely by coastwise shipping, the strait so narrow as to
discourage entry on that side of the island, and the beach relatively easy to
approach at calm surf by an afterboat. While the
runes are translated with the date 1001(AD, presumably), it need not have been
carved in precisely that year, but at any year within the next thirty or so
when it appeared that Vikings intended permanent settlement of this coastline.
The marker, therefore, seems to be a notice of interest to ships
"coasting" off shore.

Secondly, the
inscriptions of the upper two lines of three are deeply incised into hard
stone while the lowest nearest the bottom and apparently originally as deep
and clear has eroded to where it is illegible. This comparison of clear
letters with erosion of the lower line indicate – proves in my estimation,
great antiquity, certainly of many centuries. The artifact was researched,
photographed and presented as part of the program of one Edward F. Gray (England) in "Leif Erickson,
Discoverer of America". It has some material available on the web. It is
thought by some that the name of the island had been "Norman's Land"
(Vikings Land) because of the presence of the rock. The island has never been
densely inhabited, and then only for a few families.

======+++======

Rafn
#3

,

[ 41
39'51.91"N, 71 15'00.47"W ] [artifact]
Runestone now apparently lost near MountHope adjacent to Bristol, RI. Drawing of it exists and
runes translated as, "Haldor strays himself
and is lost here". The fact that runes exist or existed on this rock (I
have searched for it but did not locate it) seems plain but, personally, I
suspect the translation. A waterside location, especially this one, does not
seem to me to be a likely place to be lost, nor a seaman taking the time and
trouble to advertise his embarrassment.

Rafn
#8, NewportStoneTower.[ 41 29'08.88"N, 71
18'35.30"W ]. This artifact, so long
controversial, cannot be omitted from Vinland study. It seems firmly
accepted in Norway as a cultural artifact
and is the single most constant attraction for Vinland scholars. Zooming in, you
can actually make out some detail as it stands in small Tauro
Park in Newport. (Tauro Park is in commemoration
of a nearby synagogue, the very first established in the future United
States.) So strong are the legends that this famous tower has evoked that a
nearby hotel is named "Viking" and has murals within to add to the
tale. While controversial, it most certainly is not the windmill that many claim
because of the presence of a fireplace inside which would never be done where
grinding of grain was performed. Millers from ancient times have been aware of
the explosive properties of organic dust. It seems to compare well with
Scandinavian architecture and also to have been built to an ancient Norwegian
measurement system, according to Frederick J. Pohl. It has been, and remains,
the single most notable attraction to Vinland
scholars. Dr. HelgeIngstad,
ultimate discoverer of the site at [ L’Anse
aux Meadows, Canada ] was drawn to it all the way from
Norway and commenced his search at this place. Zoom in close on this one.

A much later visiting
Norwegian scholar felt that certain markings he observed some 12 feet high on
the West side seemed to be runes and translates as: "Church of the Bishop’s
seat", the bishop being thought one Henricus
who departed Greenland at some time in in the
eleventh century in search of a lost Vinland.
Records on Henricus state that his purpose was
inspired by reports of the (Viking) people "---leaving the Church and
going over to the natives" which

we
now know was the case. It is not known if he ever arrived or ever returned
from this voyage as this is the end of his saga. Perhaps this tower represents
his presence and ultimate failure of re-conversions of the new genetic
specific people called Narragansetts. We now know
that this loss of Christianity did, indeed, occur.

Another argument of my
own and some others is that it is unlikely to have been a windmill because of
technical weaknesses of building a windmill from masonry or stone. I am aware
that this has been done and there are examples of it, especially with masonry
which, by its geometric regularity of bricks is more stable. But built with
stone is problematical because of the dynamic vibrations set up by the turning
arms of the windmill. The weight of each arm is considerable and at speed
quite so unbalanced as to cause severe vibrations which ultimately will
destroy the structure, especially one built on pillars as the Newport one is.
For windmills overall, wood is the better material, not because it is
stronger, but because it has enough flexibility to withstand vibration. I have
been inside a windmill with the sails turning at moderate speed and I can
affirm that this is somewhat more than the word vibration implies. It is more
like a shuddering and must be much worse at high speeds or in storm. As I
understand it, the canvas sails are removed when storms threaten, but even
without them the web-like supports for them can not be put out of operation so
that the rotor still turns (the brake cannot hold it), still at considerable
speed, but at a more manageable power level. The caretaker of the one I
visited on Nantucket and from whom this
information comes, stated that he had weathered
several severe storms within and one hurricane. (1938, a
most famous storm along that coastline. I weathered it as well, but
from an inland locale where falling trees were the worst hazard.) He told me
that it was a most frightening experience with the floors heaving and the
whole structure swaying. The windmill was of respected durability because at
the time I was there it had stood some 200 years. It is shown in place on
Captain Southack's chart dated 1717 and I hope in
place yet.

I cannot refrain from
offering an opinion of my own concerning the Newport Stone Tower. I consider
it possible and probable that the tower is of Portuguese impulse of 1470’s.
The ship considered - one of three - happened to have either Portuguese
"agents" or commanders but, interestingly, a Scandinavian crew. This
crew, of course, would be the actual artisians of
the structure and would use their own measurement system. There are possible
recorded correlations to both [ Dighton
Rock, MA ] and the chronicle of
Giovanni Verrazano who first contacted and
recorded Narragansett (Rhode Island) Indians in 1524.
Specifically: one of the three Danish ships of Joao vas Corte Real, Portuguese
agent of King Alphonso VI. The tower I leave to
your judgement and this last idea my own
speculation.

======+++======

Rafn
#4, [artifact]
West side of the Island of Aquidneck (Rhode Island).
[ 41 33'21.51"N, 71 18'11.38"W
] Area now disturbed by US Navy installations. Apparently not runes but
curiously carved and some theorize it a device for colonial black powder
salutes. Indefinite to negative in my opinion.

======+++======

Rafn
#5, [artifact] West side of Sakonnet"River" entry at a place called
"Sachuest" (Narragansett Indian word). [
41 28'50.38"N, 71 14'45.81"W
] This rock also has been lost to erosion. My exploring for it (just from
curiosity in 1950) did locate a brass plaque that identified it but the rock
itself is lost by this most peculiar form of erosion. The brass plaque was
observed by this writer in 1950 but when investigated in 1985, it also had
been lost to erosion. The county had attempted to preserve the shoreline by
laying out huge blocks of concrete slabs weighing many tons and these blocks,
at one time lying upon the steep bank adjoining and in contact, have been
washed directly out to sea in a regular, evenly spaced and systematic fashion.
The persistent wave action caused them, apparently, to follow the course of
the ancient hewn stone. A Portuguese scholar, Dr. De La Barre,
also sought this stonel before me and discovered
yet another at the opposite end of the small beach. This second stone was
definitely not hewn with intent to form letters.

======+++======

Rafn
#6, East side
of SakonnetRiver.[ 41 32'01.09"N, 71
12'23.72"W ]. [artifact]
Runestone, Scholars might note with this zooming
with Google Earth® that this water way does not
appear as a true river, which it is not. In fact, it is so named because of
this study by C.C.Rafn, who felt that it may have
been the river leading to Leifsbudir and Hop.
(Which he theorized to be "Hop" at [ Mount Hope, RI ] and Leifsbudir
at [ Tiverton, RI ]) The
little used waterway is entirely salt, shallow, tidal
and has no fresh water flow. Rhode Islanders erroneously refer to the passage
along the West side of the large island near Newport as Narragansett Bay's
"East Passage" and is the most heavily traveled. Investigations
northward from Newport might discover two large aircraft carriers docked, thus
indicating a quite deep channel. However, as can be clearly seen here the
so-called Sakonnet River is the true East Passage.
Nautical traffic is light because of shallows and the narrow strait to the
North.

======+++======

Rafn
#7, In a district
named [ Somerset, MA
]. [artifact] A runestone
formerly well known but removed for rip-rap at nearby locale. Lost and
no translation seems apparent. This area also is known as a dwelling site of
famed Massasoit, that same famed Wampanoag
Chieftain who greeted the Plymouth settlers in 1620 or '21. We have good
reason to believe that he also might have been descended from Vikings and was
closely connected to the Narragansett neighbors just across the bay.

======+++======

From AntiquitatesAmericanae but not listed as artifact. Whale
Rock [ 41 25'36.98"N, 71 25'24.95"W
]. A natural feature not claimed as runestone
and, in fact, a bit of a mystery. Rafn shows this
on his detailed map apparently to compare with the stranded whale on Straumney.
It does not seem to bear at all with his theme of approach up Sakonnet
River. An interesting feature nevertheless. It
looks like a spouting whale from a little distance

.
======+++======

#9,
[ 41 38'47.85"N, 71 24'27.20"W
] [artifact] Runestone.Newest discovery of about 40 years ago. Exact
location is confidential. It is in tidewater and seems to be a border or
property marker. The markings appear as runes but have not been fully
translated. In its favor is its location, for the little known subsidence of
the land must be accounted for and its original placement must have been much
before where the present shoreline is now located. As with the NoMansLandrunestone,
the variance in conditions indicates that its original location makes it a
reasonable artifact where its present clocation at
tidewater does not make sense.

======+++======

#10,
[ 43 45'39.67"N, 69 19'08.67"W
] [artifact] MonanisIsland near Monhegan, Maine.
Considerable distance from Rhode Island but not far
off a track of
navigation from Greenland. From
Professor De La Barre. Markings appear to
be runes but carved by someone "illiterate".

======+++======

#11,
[ ] (I seem to have misplaced my references to this artifact. Will seek
it out and add when discovered.) Also from De La Barre.
Refers to "Ober Broadside"
(paper/pamphlet? of 1889) at West Newberry, MA. Described
as possible runes with Indian superscriptions.

======+++======

#12,
[ 41 43'51.00"N, 70 37'14.35"W
] [ Aptuxet, MA
]. Artifact runestone
well known at one time in local circles as it was used as a step in a local
church. It was revered by local Indians and was translated to say; "Jesus
amply provides for us here and in Heaven". Again, remember that all but
one of the Vinland voyagers were
Christian, Catholic and at the time Vikings were generally somewhat literate.

======+++======

#13,
[ Bourne, MA
] [ 41 44'04.47"N, 70 36'00.75"W
] [artifact] Not far from Plymouth, a runestone
used for many years as a tourist attraction at general store.Uncertain fate. Note close proximity of 12 and 13.

======+++======

#14,
PlymouthMA.
[ 41 57'31.09"N, 70 39'44.24"W
] [artifact] Exact placement
unknown. Since I can not specify the
exact location, this one is Plymouth Rock itself. Interested historians
might call up their ruler and determined distance from the rock to Dighton
Rock from where famed Massasoit traveled to join
his visitors for the first ever of Thanksgiving dinners. His home was
identified as "PockonocickSagamore)
quite near Dighton Rock. Ref. William F. Goodwin, "The Truth about
Leif Erickson". Runestone. Translation: "Jua
provides us light abundantly."

#19,
Oak Bluffs on [MarthasVinyard,
MA]
[ 41 27'30.31"N, 70 33'38.94"W
]. [artifact] Runestone known
from early colonial 1600’s. At one time had been translated by a
local clergyman from supposed runes but the translation is lost. It was known
for many years as a "lover’s rock" but eventually was overcome by
erosion, at which it fell from its high bluff with the inscription facing
upward. When I say "fell" I realize that this is not the correct
definition of what happens. The rock did not fall, neither did it slide, it
ended upon the beach in approximately the same place as it had occupied
earlier. The sandbank eroded away from under it, so that its descent was
gradual - perhaps 50 years from when the ground eroded under it. This is the
same process that occurred with the NoMans Land Runestone.
Eventually "Lover's Rock" was removed and used for shoring for pier
in the harbor. Nature's way of demonstrating our familiar
trick of yanking a table cloth away while leaving dishes and silverware in
place.

======+++======

#20,

[ 41
59'21.05"N, 70 42'04.77"W ] [artifact]
An ax recorded from the estate of original 1620 settler family named Howland.
At property inventory it was described as "Viking ax, over 200 years
old." Seems also to have runes upon it translating
to: "Father gave". This artifact, if valid, is one of
the most intriguing as it is possible to correlate it to ThorvaldEiricksson himself who was buried on the headland
just across the harbor. William Goodwin collection.

======+++======

#21
[41 41'49.73"N, 71 53'08.80"W
] [artifact] Mysterious cairns built in shape of Viking
burials. These also are modern discoveries (~40 years) and in such an obscure
place that they have been overlooked for centuries. Precise location is kept
in confidence but are within property designated as (Connecticut) State
Park. They were written up in an article in Norwegian cultural
periodical in the 1980’s and brought to my attention. Photographs.
The three of them surely are structured in configuration comparable to size
and shape of Viking longships. A Norwegian scholar
even identified blocks placed as in position for ship’s mast. The artifacts
seem valid enough for me and would seem to invite archeological interest. The
only thing I can see against them is that the entire outline is filled with
stone to a height of perhaps three feet, whereas in Scandinavia almost exclusively they
are simply outlined in stone.

======+++======

#22
[geographic iconographic] [possible other artifacts] BassRiver (Massachusetts) site
[ 41 42'11.45"N, 70 10'59.72"W
] discovered and researched by Frederick J. Pohl in the early 1950’s. This
site was widely publicized and accepted with some enthusiasm until proposal of
L’Anse aux Meadows in 1963. Mr. Pohl traced the
sagas precisely as we have here and felt that the river of Leifsbudir
was this Bass River near Nauset at the elbow of
Cape Cod. At that time he was able to investigate the area of the lake and
discovered a rock with an apparent mooring hole as well as traces of ancient
piles arranged as a possible ship shed. The property has since been developed
for residential use but the town has accepted the theory to the extent of
naming nearby streets for Vinland personages.

One of my early acts of
investigations was to visit this place and counter it with my own theories. I
felt that perhaps Mr. Pohl looked for his landing too soon after turning into
Nantucket sound. He seems to have felt that the crew was at the end of their
tether, starving and exhausted. This does not seem to me to fit with the tale
of their stay on an offshore island. I also felt that the terrain was not
rugged enough – very few elevations nearby could be called hills.

It then occurred to me
that the lake was quite distant from the sea. A resident informed me that it
was about seven miles which I think too far. (Actually a bit less than five
miles, but perhaps some distance added for convoluted courses. Even fine miles
is a long way to work a small ship in undeveloped waterways.) As I have mentioned elsewhere,
seamen do not have the attitude that the sea is to be avoided. What they look
for is sheltered anchorages as close to the sea as possible. Time of
traverse to where their voyage to fish or faraway begins is a large
consideration for seafarers. At BassRiver, it would take a full day
for a ship to be worked from the lake to the sea whereas at NarrowRiver, a ship can be moored
only fifty yards from the surf-line and out in less than an hour when
high slack-tide occurs.

======+++======

[
41 29'11.24"N, 71 26'10.27"W ]
[possible artifact] In research I discovered
legends of another ancient tower located on the west side of the bay. Memories
of this remain in the alternative name of McSparran's
Hill as "Tower Hill" and also that section of the Boston/New York
post Road - US rt. 1 - called Tower Hill Road. In examining satellite photos I
was astonished to discover an area that appears to have at one time contained
a tower of similar proportions to the Newport Tower. Several times I have
examined the field where it seems to have stood and could not determine any
thing at ground level.

I was guided to this
area by speculation that if there had been a tower that matched the Newport
one, it would probably be related to a line of light/sight sourced from the
Newport Tower fireplace and the oddly placed Western window which has long
been speculated to have been a possible lighthouse configuration. I discovered
that this line of sight was directed precisely towards Pettaquamscutt
Rock on the other side of the bay. It was in tracing this line of sight that I
discovered the apparent traces of the second tower. There is nothing peculiar
in the idea that perhaps this second tower had existed.

======+++======

#23,
[ 41 26'31.46"N, 71 26'38.30"W
] [literary iconographic].
Offered as indicative is the area of the Narrow River mouth which coincides
with descriptions extracted from the Vinland
Sagas.

#24,

[
41 28'15.67"N, 71 27'09.48"W ] [geography
iconographic] Pettaquamscutt Rock. Invisible
under the forest canopy. What might be noted is the smaller extent of
the tree tops here as can be seen in the stunted trees in right hand photo.
This is the result of thin topsoil upon its top. Not precisely an
"artifact" it coincides with descriptions extracted from Vinland
Sagas.

======+++======

#25,
[ 41 27'22.53"N, 71 27'25.78"W
] [geographic iconographic].
An area detected by this writer in an early satellite photo and analyzed at
University of Texas as a "ghost field". It does not seem to coincide
with modern or colonial property lines and seems to have signs of structures
at its highest (inland) end that compares with medieval farm patterns. In my
own analysis of this "ghost farm" and its relationship to other
factors of the settlement, it is my guess that this is the most likely spot
for the farm of ThorfinnKarlsefni,
his wife Gudrid, and birthplace of Snorri.
It is now overgrown with small trees and brush but at the time of the
satellite photo (1973) was more or less clear pasturage, which enabled the
indistinct outlines to appear.

======+++======

#26,
[ 41 27'31.00"N, 71 27'29.00"W
] [iconographic]
(Precise location deliberately obscured.) Jireh Bull homestead. Caution to
independent investigators! This property is owned by the RI Historical
Preservation Society and has no legal approach across local property lines
whose owners are alert to trespassers. The area also possesses strong defenses
to those wandering about. Property owners are possessive, the area is infested
with wood-ticks which are suspected to carry LymeDisease,
and extensive overgrowth of a plant called Greenbriar,
easily as effective as barbed wire. Persons attempting to force these tangles
are sure to be well bloodied. (As I discovered to my
regret.)

This area was of interest to me as it is the most likely place for an
approaching seaman to view as a dwelling site. This location is defined not by the terrain
(hilly and steep) as it is by the channels in the waterway below. The seaman
is interested in bringing his ship as close to the shore as possible (for
small ship "beachings", at least) and
his dwelling so close as to overlook his anchorage. For this reason, I felt
that both Leif Erickson and Jireh Bull would match
each other’s interest for dwelling sites. Bull, as it happens, was the first
of the English colonials to build within this estuary at a time when the whole
of the land west of Narragansett Bay was still Indian territory.

In 1917, because of
interest in the decayed ruins of the 1663 Bull homestead, Archeologists
excavated the homestead which eventually extended to four structures dating
from 1663 to 1678. Two very intriguing discoveries were made, the first being
absence of a well or water supply, which struck the archeologists as peculiar,
but there is a small spring there now which at one time had a
"spring-house" built over it. The spring must have been there when Jireh
Bull dwelt there and also when Leif Erickson did much before. It would be
Bull, of course who built the spring-house. (Colonial spring-houses were used
for milk and butter storage as they are commonly cooled by the flowing water.

The second item is even
more significant and may be viewed as a valid artifact, perhaps of great
significance. The archeologists discovered underneath the Bull structure,
recorded to have been built in 1663, clear evidence – traces - of an even
more ancient structure. It is this unexamined building that I claim might well
be the true residence of Leif Erickson c.AD1000. The Archeologists recorded this older structure in their report to
the RI Legislature, but no further attention has been drawn to this amazing
information. This cessation of attention no doubt was the result of American
entry to WWI. It is worth repeating that this 1663 Bull dwelling was one of,
and perhaps the very first, endeavor at building anywhere on the West side of
Narragansett Bay. In 1663, the colony of Rhode Island existed only in four
quite limited areas near the Bay waters; Newport,Portsmouth(on North end of same
island)Warwick (on West side but further
North) and Providence at the tip of Narragansett Bay. At this period of
history, the colonists were still essentially tied to the sea whereas the
Indians held all the inland territories. (With the exception of the district
between Plymouth and [Rehoboth,
MA] which
had been depopulated by the epidemic of 1615.)

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#27
[41 30'29.64"N, 71 25'04.98"W ] [artifact] Saunderstown, RI. Alleged Viking weapon
discovered by accident in 1889 and researched by one James Earl Clausen who
was a high school teacher in the area. He persisted in describing it as a
"halberd", which usually is seen as a combination spear and ax.
However, "halberds" seem to be very rarely encountered in Viking
weaponry. Mr. Clausen’s interest and research was never taken seriously
among his neighbors and even among his own family. He wrote a book on it
which, unfortunately, was never published and its manuscript lost. His
surviving description of it states that it weighed ten pounds and was eleven
inches along the blade and eleven inches from cutting edge to haft hole, which
seems too large for a personal weapon. I do believe that some medieval
weaponry was designed for battering and chopping attack upon walls, roofs and
doors rather than individual enemies. The concept is somewhat comparable to
the distinct axes used by modern firemen, which have both hook or spike and
chopping edge. Those ornate halberds carried by English "Yeomen of the
Guard" and Papal "Swiss Guards" do not appear practical for man
to man combat and look like they would be formidable defense weapons against
cavalry and also for forcing windows or doors.

Mr. Clausen is remarked
in the research of Frederick J Pohl and was interviewed for a radio program in
1936 in his later years in which he stated that he would believe till his
dying day that the artifact was a Viking Halberd; that Pettaquamscutt
River was the Leifsbudir and Hop of the Icelandic
Sagas; and that the battle of Hop occurred a bit north of Saunder's farm[Saunderstown,
RI] on the East
side of Pettaquamscutt River. The ax, however, was
discovered quite close to salt water edge near the bay at a place long noted
as a landing site for ferrying to and from [Jamestown,
RI] (Ind.
"Conanicut") Island across the water.

Note the small spurs
that are structured upon the two axes (#18, #20) viewed above. Those spurs
seem too weak and impractable to serve any useful purpose for hewing or managing logs and it
is my belief that the purpose might be, indeed, a European and Viking
innovation for the purpose of grappling an opponent’s shield when in close
combat. The warrior, in this supposition, would hold the shield upon his
forearm with the left hand holding both shield and ax, his right hand grasping
a long-sword. The opponents would attempt to immobilize each other's shield
arm where strength and aggression would come into play until a forced opening
for a sword stroke would end the argument. It may have been the appearance of
such a spur on the Saunderstown ax that made Mr. Clausen to refer to it as a
"halberd".

Some of those who
ridiculed Mr. Clausen’s work claimed that the ax must have been a
"broad-ax", which compares roughly with the size and weight of that
found. My counter to this is that in 1889 broad-axes were still a common tool
with both woodmen and carpenters and have a distinct configuration of an
off-set from the haft hole to where they can be mounted upon the handle for
left and right strokes along sides of a beam being shaped. An adze hews along
the face of a beam, while a "broad ax" hews along one side or the
other. The ax is mounted on the handle one way or the other for a right or
left stroke along the log. In hewing masts for ships, for instance, broad axes
were commonly used. Surely this would have been pointed out or discovered by
Mr. Clausen in his lifetime of research, but there must have been something
about the artifact that was distinctive and distinctively Norse to make him
devote his career and reputation to it.

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FortNinegret.
[ 41 31'06.48"N, 71 42'45.08"W
] A significant site not directly connected to Vinland.
Narragansett (sub-group Niantic). Chieftain Ninnegret
was a well known and well documented individual upon whose territory Dutch
businessmen of New Amsterdam had built a trading post. The waterside location
of this fort is preserved as a small park and the outlines of the fort still
evident. Its design had been of European style, square with four battlements.
A number of colonial artifacts have been excavated from this site, one a small
cannon and another a sword of late medieval Flemish
design. Its significance here is an introduction to this famous Ninnegret.
A painting of him is displayed on another page of this website at "The
People" found on the Index page. He, of course, was a member of the
"nobility" and one expected to be - and now proven to have been -
descended from European Viking stock. A visit to this place removes all sense
of time from the historian

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#28.
[ 41 23'31.75"N, 71 38'37.13"W
] [genetic iconographic]Narragansett cemetery, Charlestown, RI.Burial site of Ninnegret’s
daughter, "Princess" Weunkwesh.
This site (c.1660) was excavated in 1853 by MD Usher Parsons who was intensely
interested lifelong in Narragansett history as well as genetic anomalies in
the population. It was his adventure to have been treating a wounded
Narragansett Indian crewman during the Battle of Lake Erie in 1813 when the
unfortunate native was struck a second time and carried away by a British
cannonball. Dr. Parsons had known this man well and there seems to have been
something about him that engaged the intense interest that became the Doctor's
lifelong intimacy with the tribe. He excavated 53 burials at this place of
which one was a grave of Ninnegret’s daughter.
The excavation was both deep (12 feet !! The silk
clad body in a split log sarcophagus !!)and
opulent, astoundingly atypical for what we might think of primitive woodland
Indians of the day. Some decades after the excavations another Rhode Island
historian, Sidney Smith Ryder, in re-examining the skull of this woman,
discovered with his microscope the first sign of that genetic anomaly that
becomes the proof of this argument – tubercular hair. Since she possessed
the trait, it follows that either her mother or father Ninnegret
had possessed it as well. Dr. Parsons, the excavator, and Mr. Ryder,
discoverer of the trait, were not archeologists, but were, in fact, educated
and responsible scholars.

======
+++======

#29. [ 41 29'38.45"N, 71
22'59.19"W ] Narragansett cemetery researched at
the same time as that following. I have been unable to discover any papers on
this site.

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#30
RI-1000 [ 41
34'47.35"N, 71 30'19.62"W ] [genetic
iconographic]The
Champion !!Discovered by
accident and excavated and researched by archeologists from University of Rhode Island, published and peer
reviewed. This site is fully documented and has academic provenance. It has
our proof in the discovery of a genetic trait which must be of pre-Columbian
European origin. The amazing thing about this discovery is the reminder that
"artifacts" are man-made, whereas this genetic trait is nature-made
– or an act of God, if you will. The argument,
then is not the validity of an object, but review of factors contributing.

A summary for insight
seems in order at this point. We have theorized that NarrowRiver sand bar is the
iconographic described in the Vinland Sagas. This
has led us up the short river into a lake and from there up a hill to a
building site. The descriptions of Hop permit us to see development of a
settlement,"—there were houses down near the water,
and more farms further back on the other side of the hill." We can
account for documented residence at this place by over two hundred people,
whose Norse records cease at departure of FreydisEiricksdottir.
It has been thought that the end of the settlement was the departure of Karlsefni’s
family earlier, but in the twenty or so years of residence, some of the male
Vikings must have made their way into the local Indian culture or seized as
chattels Indian women. Thus commenced the unique genetic
family that became the Narragansett Tribe later described in 1524. It
can be reasonably speculated that the first intermarriage settlement occurred
upon the East side of PettaquamscuttRiver at a place they named
"Mettatuxet". There exists also the
possibility that is opened to speculation by the numbers and placements of the
listed artifacts above, that Vinland was never entirely abandonedby Norsemen for quite some time and that periodic visitation had
occurred. This has been considered by a number of scholars, among whom
was the late, celebrated Dr. Thor Heyerdahl.

In the intervening
years from 1000AD, the genetic grouping expanded to the approximate borders of
present State of Rhode Island, when these were set in
defiance of their two aggressive neighboring English colonies of Massachusetts and Connecticut near 1640. The tribe was
so powerful and dominant that they were the sole Native American group whose
presence established Rhode Island's borders, rather than
have them determined in far off England as were all the other 12
original colonies. The setting of those borders occurred with the colonial
charter of 1663 but Narragansett influence ceased in 1677 at their defeat in
King Phillip’s war. Narragansett Tribal base of origin was Pettaquamscutt
River Valley and the revered origin of their name might have been the small
island now named "Gooseberry" in Lake Pettaquamscutt
now misnamed "Cove".

RI1000 is located
nearly central to NarragansettTerritory and is about 8.5 miles
from where the Viking settlement had existed.